Portland Timbers Quotes
Portland Timbers head coach Giovanni Savarese
On if he believes the last minute video review should have awarded a penalty kick…
“What do you think? I ask you. Tell me. You want to ask the [Timbers Army] what they think? What can I tell you? What can I tell you? Is it a [penalty kick] or not? What about [Jeremy Ebobisse]’s? What about [Ebobisse]’s? Different than that PK? Just saw it right now; it’s exactly the same. Why one is a PK and the other one no? Why two extra minutes when they say four? There’s many things I can say. But what I can say is that I’m extremely proud of my guys. They played very well today. And it was a very good game. Revolution, New England came here… they tried to play. It was a great game today. Two good teams. Two good teams that tried to play to try to get a result. Unfortunately not everybody on the field was at that level.”
On the Timbers scoring goals after three games of struggling to find the net…
“I think we deserved it today. Played very well. Created chances. Put the ball in the back of the net. I just think that they’re going to make us suffer all the way to the end because today was a very good game. We played well. We moved the ball well. I thought that we did things right. The system was right. The guys performed the plan in a good way. We deserved the three points. I think these three points were stolen from us.”
On what he’ll say to the team tomorrow at training…
“Yes. It’s to continue to fight forward. We know that we have a lot against us. It’s only about us to push forward and continue to fight. Very happy about the Timbers Army today. It was fantastic the support, the energy. That’s what we need. Looks like they went through the spirit of our players because the guys were able to play a great match. It’s just about continuing to fight, continuing to go forward. Just you finish with a very sour taste because today the guys deserved three points. And we found three points. So it’s just unfortunate.”
Portland Timbers Quotes
Portland Timbers forward Jeremy Ebobisse
On his feeling after the result…
“Definitely disappointed. Anytime you give up a goal at the end in a game that you’re in control of, you can’t help but feel disappointed. After seeing how some of the other results went and where we stand in the table, I think we have to remain hopeful. We’ll take the good things out of it and fix the lapses that we had and take it forward because we control our own destiny. We’re in a good spot moving forward still.”
On whether the team feels frustrated or motivated heading into Sunday’s match against Sporting Kansas City…
“I think it’s a little bit of both. I think it’s natural to be disappointed in this kind of result with the way it happened. We’re human. Had we been down 2-0 and come back to save a point, I think you wouldn’t say we’re disappointed, but the nature of the game makes it feel that way. Again, we have another game coming up in a few days so we can’t rest on the disappointments of the past. We’ve got to move forward and know that there’s everything to play for, we control it all and hopefully through all these moments of hardship and what we consider unfairness, we can rise above it and make a run like last year.”
On his first goal from Jorge Villafaña’s assist…
“I found myself on the right side in the flow of the game. When I saw Jorge breaking down the left side, I knew I wouldn’t be doing my job if I didn’t try to get into the box, so I read Bill’s [Tuiloma] movement. Bill was a little bit ahead of me and I saw the flight of the ball was going to go over him, so I was hoping he knew I was there and didn’t try too hard to get a touch on it and then from there I just committed to the ball. Luckily, I got great contact and it was far enough away from [Brad] Knighton.”
Portland Timbers goalkeeper Steve Clark
On the way the match ended...
“It’s very disappointing. We played a great game, a complete game for a lot of that time and the way it ended it’s very disappointing.”
On the amount of time it was allowed for stoppage time…
“I was surprised. It felt personal. That’s all I can say about that. I never comment on referees in my career, but I was very surprised they kept asking to call the game.”
On the team’s belief in making the playoffs…
“We’re fine. We’re going to lick our wounds, get back out there and be hungry. I thought it was a great game; it felt like us in a lot of ways. So we’re going to be ready to go on Sunday, I can promise you that.”
New England Revolution quotes
New England Revolution head coach Bruce Arena
General thoughts on the match...
“Well, it’s a heck of a point on the road given…and certainly given the circumstances. I think tonight was a really good game. Both teams played well, the game was fast, we created chances. I was a little disappointed in the goals we conceded but they came at us pretty hard man. Our players never quit and coming in at the end, was really incredible and as frustrated as our opponents are with the penalty kick at the end, it was a penalty kick. That’s one of the times that I would say VAR did its job the right way. And in all fairness to the referee, I know he took a lot of abuse at the end of the game but he did his job correctly.”
On rotating the squad for tonight’s match…
“Well, we needed fresh legs. We have another important game on Sunday. Sometimes it’s right, sometimes it isn’t, whoever knows you know. But like our guys have done since I’ve come in here, they never quit and we’ve had some good performances lately and get these…get points on the road at the venues we’ve played in over the last three or four weeks is pretty damn good.”
On if it was important to get Brad Knighton in a game this at this point of the season…
“Not necessarily, I mean he’s a good goalkeeper and I just think that Matt’s [Turner] been pushed pretty hard over the last three or four months and to give him a break, I think was good. This is a venue that Brad knows, so I think he felt kind of comfortable playing tonight.”
On if you had been told you’d have an opportunity in your home finale to clinch a playoff spot back in May…
“Yeah, I’d take that definitely. I’ll take it back in May and I’ll take it now. Obviously it’s going to be a very difficult game with arguably one of the best teams in the league on Sunday.
On if this is a decent way to pick up his 700th point as a manager…
“Well, it is. But I think the only reason I have 700 points I guess…I didn’t even know this, but the fact I’ve been around a long time.”
New England Revolution midfielder Scott Caldwell
General thoughts on the match…
“That was an exciting one for us. We left it all out on the field. Got a great decision going our way at the end and eventually fought together to get the point.”
On what the result means for the team heading into their last two games…
“Hopefully we can build off that because we have great energy right now. We’ll get home real quick with the flight and then we’ll be getting ready for Sunday and that’s another huge one. We need to get three points there.”
On the Revolution fans that were in Providence Park…
“That was pretty cool. Just to see some of the guys we’re used to seeing and then some more were here as well. There were a good amount. We can’t thank them enough just to make the trip and to be cheering for us.”
New England Revolution forward Teal Bunbury
On the team’s energy following the dramatic result…
“The energy is great. Guys are really excited. That’s a crazy wild game and points don’t come like that very often. The fight in everybody, working hard I mean, it’s a wild game, it’s almost like you’re speechless. It’s tough to go down two-nil away from home, especially in this hostile environment, but we created enough chances to come out with a point. Just the way it went down was really wild. Just credit to all the guys who put the work in, sticking with each other, coming out of here with a point.”
On if taking the point in this fashion can be galvanizing at this point of the season…
“Yeah, it really can. It can be a spark for our final two regular-season games. We still don’t have the playoff spot clinched so our focus now is going to be get back, recover, and get ready for New York City [FC]. They’re playing extremely well and it’s going to be a tough matchup but we’re going to be playing at home in front of our fans. We’re going to need three points so we’ve got to keep it going but I think this is really going to boost our confidence and we’re going to be ready to play Sunday.”
Referee Jair Marrufo
On why there was so much additional stoppage time added…
“Four minutes was shown. Then two minutes were added for time wasting and two [substitutions] were made.
On what was seen on VAR to determine if there was a penalty kick for New England in stoppage time…
“Clear pull of jersey from number 33 [Larrys Mabiala] of Portland on number 23 Wilfried Zahibo of New England."
Notes:
- Wednesday’s match marked the 10th consecutive home match for the Timbers – the longest homestand in MLS history.
- Jeremy Ebobisse notched the first brace of his MLS career in the match. Ebobisse is the 17th Timbers player to record a brace in an MLS match.
- Ebobisse increased his season total to 11 goals, which is tied for the team lead.
- The Timbers are one of three Western Conference teams this season with multiple double-digit goal-scorers.
- Ebobisse’s 11 goals are the most ever by a Timbers MLS draft pick.
- Sebastián Blanco delivered his 11th assist of the season, matching his season total from 2018.
- Blanco is the fourth Timbers player across all eras of the club to have multiple seasons with 11 or more assists, joining Diego Valeri, Willie Anderson and John Bain.
- Blanco now has 30 assists for his MLS career. Blanco ranks third in Portland’s MLS era and sixth across all eras of the club in assists.
- The Timbers have 12 headed goals this season, which is the fourth-most in MLS. Ebobisse has scored five headed goals.
